Rear Facing Front Passenger Seat

Has there ever been an American car with a rear facing front passenger seat option?

Yes, might have been a concept vehicle. Cadillac had an executive sedan, the front passenger seat faced backwards. It was for the secretary so he/she could face the boss.

The 1967 Imperial also had a mobile office option where the front passenger seat swiveled 180° so the secretary could take dictation from her boss in the back seat.

This was very common in conversion vans until conversion vans fell out of favor in the 2000’s. The passenger seat and mid-row captain’s chairs would be mounted on a swivel that could spin however you wanted.

2 Likes

The 1947 Kaiser Pinconning Special sedan had such a feature. Unfortunately, because this was a one-off built for a factory executive, Kaiser never produced such a vehicle for the masses.

Just one more example of the creative ideas that frequently came from the independent automakers…

“The passenger seat and mid-row captain’s chairs would be mounted on a swivel that could spin however you wanted.”

And the driver’s seat, too, for when you’re stopped (I hope!).

1 Like

Depends on the era. If I recall, the driver’s seat eventually became fixed for safety reasons, but the others could still swivel.